Manchin, Capito to appear at W.Va. 9 event

September 20, 2010

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, and state and federal highway officials are scheduled to take part in an opening ceremony Monday for the last two sections of the new route for W.Va. 9 between Martinsburg and Charles Town, W.Va., officials said.

The ceremony, to be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Short Road (9/19) exit for the new four-lane route, is open to the public, West Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker said Thursday.

WVDOT Secretary Paul Mattox and Tom Smith, the West Virginia administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, are expected to join Capito, R-W.Va., and Manchin for the program, which is slated to include musical performances, Walker said.

The event comes about three weeks after the new highway between Opequon Creek and Short Road, and from there to Leetown Road, opened to traffic Aug. 31. Officials have said the two projects cost more than $50 million.

Advertisement

The opening of the two sections of limited-access road allows motorists to travel from Interstate 81 to Charles Town on a four-lane road with little interruption.